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The Utah Jazz’s fairytale run during the NBA regular season this time around can be attributed to a variety of reasons. Most notably, it is Rudy Gobert’s defensive performances at the rim that have allowed the Jazz’s offensive players to concentrate on attacking. Gobert is without doubt one of the best defenders the NBA has ever seen, and has already won the defensive player of the year award twice.
Gobert is the odds-on favorite to win the title for a third time this season. He is already one of only ten players in the NBA to win multiple defensive player of the year awards.
However, two players have won the defensive player of the year award a record four times, something Gobert might go on to achieve in the coming seasons.
NBA stars with the most defensive player of the year awards
Former NBA stars Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo have both won the defensive player of the year award a record 4 times. Back in 2001, Dikembe Mutombo became the first player to ever achieve the feat in what was arguably his best season as an NBA player for the Philadelphia 76ers.
The 76ers lost to the L.A. Lakers in the NBA championship finals, but Mutombo played a key role on both ends of the court and produced his first season with a scoring efficiency of more than 50% after 4 years. Mutombo was known for his blocking skills and dominance in the paint. He spent 13 seasons in the NBA, averaging a double-double in terms of rebounds and points.
Mutombo was especially renowned for his blocking skills. He had famously helped the Philadelphia 76ers pull off an upset in game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals, where they were up against Shaquille O’Neal’s LA Lakers.
While his best years when it comes to team honors came towards the end of his career with the Philadelphia 76ers, Mutombo spent three seasons averaging close to 4 blocks per game in the NBA, from 1993 to 1996. He won his first defensive player of the year award with the Denver Nuggets in 1995, a team that picked him as their fourth overall pick in the 1991 NBA draft.
Since then, Ben Wallace, widely regarded as the best undrafted player in NBA history, has also won a total of 4 defensive player of the year awards. Wallace spent nine seasons with the Detroit Pistons, during which he led his team to two Championship final appearances, in 2004 and 2005.
Wallace was part of the famous Detroit Pistons team that caused an upset at the 2004 NBA finals against an LA Lakers team that had both Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal at their prime. Wallace is also the only player in NBA history to have won consecutive defensive player of the year awards, twice.
